聖徳太子孝養図 (Shotoku Taishi kōyō zu)"|Prince Shōtoku at Age Sixteen

Toba Sōjō

14th century · Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk · Asian Art

Imaginary portraits and legends about the life of Prince Shōtoku (574–622), the foremost proponent of Buddhism in Japan, emerged soon after his death. Based on the prince’s mid-Heian-period biography, this painting portrays him in a form in which he was often revered as a deified historical figure: at the age of sixteen, he prayed for his father, Emperor Yōmei (518–587), to recover from illness. The pose, which belongs to a category of portraiture known as kōyō-zō (images of filial piety), appears in both paintings and sculptures of young Shōtoku, which make up nearly half his extant portraits. Dressed in a monk’s robe, he holds a censer; his hair is arranged in the two loops of a youth and frames boyish, idealized features.

Artist

Toba Sōjō

Date

14th century

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929